The World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association is an alternative circuit of tournaments for subbuteo table football players and clubs from around the world. Join now! It's free and it's all about playing the beautiful game! Players from 44 different nations have already joined! What about you?

Thursday, 29 May 2014

There are more and more good signs of collaboration between FISTF and WASPA. This week-end's FISTF Major of Bologna (Italy) will see a huge of international players from many countries playing for official titles but besides the big event, there will be a "vintage tournament" on saturday. The event will of course be played with the old rules and count for the WASPA circuit.

Special thanks to Riccardo Marinucci, the big boss of the Bologna Tigers, for accepting the offer. Rudi Peterschinigg and Alberto Gagliardi will be the WASPA delegates for the tournament. Good luck to everyone.

The Hartamas Tigers club in Malaysia was in action last week-end at the Putrujaya festival. Everything was about soccer and there were thousands of spectators to discover Subbuteo. Jamie Kong and his clubmates had the chance to get help from Kaspar Bennett, the former FISTF World Cup finalist, who spend a lot of time and energy to explain the game to newbies.

Kaspar Bennett (right) spent a lot of time and energy to explain the game to newbies

Kaspar gave the trophies to the winners

Besides the exhibitions, two small tournaments were held under WASPA banner. On saturday, the "promotional event" was organized for younger players and Muhammad Farihin (15) beat Muhammad Hanif (11) in the final (1-0). On sunday, the Open tournament counted as "WASPA regional" and Zafar Zawawi (29) beat Azmat Bade (30) in the final to win the trophy.

Presentation of the trophies for the Open tournament

Beautiful trophies were offered by the Minister of sports

To finish on a very positive note, many contacts have been made during the festival and there big plans to have more exhibitions and tournaments in June.

Mike Dent's table was used and decorated with flags of the nations taking part to the forthcoming football world cup

On Sunday, May 25, 2014, seven players competed for the first Pennsylvania Subbuteo Championship. The players were placed in two groups, a group of four players and a group of three players. The top two finishers in each group would compete for the Pennsylvania Subbuteo Championship while the remaining three would play in the consolation round, the Mushroom Bowl. The player with the highest points average would get a bye into the championship of the Mushroom Bowl.

In group A, Paul Eyes and Neil Rivera qualify for the Pennsylvania Subbuteo Championship; Adolfo Colindres receives a bye to the Mushroom Bowl final with a 1.333 points average while Andrew Zunino will participate in the play-in game for the Mushroom Bowl Final.

In group B, Daniel Cranston and Matthew Steinmuller qualify for the Pennsylvania Championship while Jamie Zacharda will participate in the play-in game for the Mushroom Bowl Final.

Monday, 26 May 2014

In conjunction with the opening of the latest table football venue in Singapore, Stadium de Imagio, host and veteran player Michael Choong welcomed nine other players for a World Cup-themed WASPA tournament.

Back
Row (L to R): Bernard, Azhar, Fadhly, Fauzi, Ouabi

Front
Row (L to R): Rudy, Anas, Michael, Nic, Vikas

Format of Competition

The 10 players were randomly drawn into two groups of five players each, and competed on a round-robin basis. The top two players advanced to the knockout semi-finals (group winner vs. the other group’s runner-up) with the subsequent winners meeting in the final. Concurrently, there were also placing matches between the corresponding eliminated group members to determine final standings (e.g. 3rd-placed players in each group would play each other and so on). Games were played over 20 minutes without a halftime break.

In addition, in line with the upcoming FIFA World Cup, each player also adopted a country to represent to give the tournament a nationalistic feel.

As expected, Ouabi (France) breezed through his group games, winning all of his games convincingly without conceding a goal. Thus, the other members of Group A had to manage their games against one another carefully. By virtue of some drawn games between the other players, Nic Tan (Russia) managed to eke into the semi-finals as his two wins proved sufficient despite two defeats and an overall negative goal difference.

Fauzi (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs. Fadhly (Holland) in the opening fixtures for Group A

Ouabi (France) vs. Michael (Italy) in the other opening fixture for Group A

Group B also started out cautiously but it was not long before it was clear the Rudy (Argentina) was the favourite to win the group. He ended with three victories and a draw, and similar to Group A’s winner, Ouabi (France), he did not concede a goal as well. The race for runner-up was a tight one as well, where Bernard (England), as a spectator, had to endure a nail-biting final group game between Vikas (India) and Azhar (USA) with his fate out of his hands. In the end, Vikas (India) could not get the required level of victory that he needed and Bernard (England) proceeded to the semi-finals on goal difference, continuing his fine form from his victory at the Leste Aquila SC Futures WASPA tournament earlier in the month.

Bernard’s (England) performance was rewarded with a semi-final with Ouabi (France), but Ouabi (France) once again proved his mettle with a convincing 2-0 victory. The other semi-final proved to be a tighter affair. Rudy’s (Argentina) renowned attacking prowess was on full display and Nic (Russia) had to shore up his defence and rely on counter-attacks. Rudy (Argentina) took a 1-0 lead with superb chip shot into the corner, but Nic (France) managed to equalise off a shot from a rolling corner kick that barely crossed the line. Seven minutes of extra time could not separate the two of them so the game went to a sudden death shootout (the only shootout as it turned out in the competition). Both players had their first shots saved. After Nic (Russia) made his second shot count with a chip, he followed it up with a save and thus, a surprising place in the final.

Final

3 Ouabi (France) – Nic (Russia) 0

After his 2-0 defeat to Ouabi (France) in the earlier group game, could Nic (Russia) turn the tables on Ouabi (France) in when it mattered most? Unfortunately for him, Ouabi (France) turned up his form in a similar manner and took a quick lead within a minute with his trademark chip into the top corner. He resumed his domination for much of the game with Nic (Russia) reduced to trying to soak-and-strike. After enduring several close saves from Nic (Russia), Ouabi (France) got the critical second goal late in the game after dragging Nic’s (Russia) hounding defence one side and then slipping through the middle to place a shot home. There was even time for Ouabi (France) to score one more goal just before time ended after a wild foray by Nic’s (Russia) flicking goalkeeper resulted in lost possession and an open goal for Ouabi (France). 3-0 to Ouabi and 3-0 to France, reminiscent of their FIFA World Cup victory in 1998. Congratulations, Ouabi (France) for continuing his dominance on the local table football scene in Singapore!

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

It is a great honor to announce that the very first WASPA tournaments in Malaysia will take place this week-end in Putrajaya. The event will take place during the "Festival Belia Putrajaya" with thousands of spectators. The Hartamas Tigers, the most active club in the country, will be happy to welcome coach Mike Dent and one of the best subbuteo players in the world, Kaspar Bennett. The event will be played with the partnership of the Sports Ministry of Malaysia and in particular Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, Sports Minister who is a very big fan of the game. On saturday, there will be a U17 tournament counting as a WASPA "promotional tournament" while the Open tournament on sunday will count as a "regional tournament". Congratulations to Mr Jamie Kong and the Hartamas Tigers for a great achievement.

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

There was a tournament played with the old rules last friday in Macerata (Italy). 9 players were taking part and there were many close games. In the semis, Andrea Giammusso beat Stefano Gambella (1-0) while Alberto Gagliardi defeated Marco Cesari (3-1). In the final, Gagliardi beat Giammusso to win his 5th WASPA title. Well done Alberto!

Monday, 19 May 2014

Five players attended the Kildare Open held on saturday. The Irish event had two international guests, Kenneth Beggs from Northern Ireland and Colin Tarry from England. The event was not only a WASPA tournament but also a part of the Irish circuit 2013-2014. Every player met each opponent twice and in the end, Mark Farrell won the event with 7 wins and 1 drw. Kenny Beggs finished second and Colin Tarry was third. For Mark farrell, who was already the winner of the Kildare Open last season, this is already the seventh victory in a WASPA regional tournament.

Another great Subbuteo tournament was held on the 18th May 2014 in Penrith, Sydney. Returning after a couple of years in the wilderness, it was great to see Steve Dettre and Jonny Ball playing once again alongside newer players Ethan Foster and Adrian Elmer. Showing he still hasn’t lost his touch Steve Dettre made it to the semi-finals with his vintage toccer figures. Peter Thomas struggled to break down Steve’s stonewall defence until the final few minutes of the game.

Steve Dettre and Benji Batten

In his first ever tournament Ethan Foster won his first game, and finished in sixth place overall. Benji Batten who came all the way from Melbourne to play made it out of his group on goal difference, after a crucial win over Paul Magee, before succumbing to Eliot Kennedy in the semi final.

Benji Batten and Paul Magee

After consuming some sports enhancing Irn-Bru before the final, some early goals by Peter Thomas made the match a one way affair, in contrast to their recent close battle in Parramatta.

Thanks to Megagames Penrith for hosting the tournament, and to everybody for coming. Hope to see you all again soon.

Sunday, 18 May 2014

The first WASPA tournament held in Vienna (Austria) took place this sunday with a field of six players. It was this time a "promotional" tournament and some of the top players did not take part. Special thanks to Thomas Eppensteiner for the organisation! We hope every player enjoyed it and we look forward to see you lots of you soon again! The winner was David Kugler (TSC Royal 78) who beat Mathias Eppensteiner (2-0) in the final. Congratulations!

Saturday 17th May 2014, Pretoria, South Africa : Jayden proved simply too strong for the field on the day, posting figures of P6-W5-D1-L0 and conceding only 1 goal (to eventual runner-up, Julian van der Merwe) en route to becoming the 2014 PFC Challenge Cup champion! Chessray Jooste, PFC’s most in form player for 2014 to date, had to settle for a disappointing 4th place. During first round action, Jayden dispatched of Chessray by 2-0 and Jayden went on to repeat that same scoreline during 2nd round matches – thereby breaking Chessray’s dominance in this particular match-up over the past 3 events of 2014. But it was in the 10th match-up of the day when Jayden beat Julian by 1-0 thanks to a long range shot on the stroke of full time, which put Julian’s hope of success on halt, and handed Jayden his first title for 2014! The 12th (and final) match-up of the day , Kegan (1) v (0) Julian , saw Julian concede again on full time, ensuring 3rd place to the 2013 Challenge Cup winner, Kegan van der Merwe.

Thursday, 15 May 2014

This wednesday's WASPA tournament in Trumau was a big success! Like in April we had a good field of ten players from different austrian clubs. To honour the winner of the european song contest, we gave the tournament the name “Conchita Wurst Trophy”.

The final

After some exciting games in the groups an some very close barrages David Busch and Alexander Haas met again in the final. It was a hard fight, David was 2-0 in the lead, some minutes before the end. Two great goals brought Alex back, in the end he was the lucky one winning on shots. Alex was very happy to win the Conchita Wurst Trophy. He tooked the price, a big fat wurst with a smile!

Wednesday, 14 May 2014

There was a tournament in Grand Rapids, Michigan last saturday with a field of 8 players competing for a lot of points as the event had the double status (FISTF/WASPA) and the host club had the chance to meet players of the Chicago Area Subbuteo Club as well as Erik Haefke who has spent the last few months in France and played in several tournaments in Europe. Haefke made it to the final after defeating Mike Ewer in the semi. In the other semi, Peter Alegi beat Ilias Gikias on shots. The final was very close but Peter Alegi made the difference in the final to beat Erik Haefke in the sudden death.

There was a very small turnout of 3 for the tournament held in Quévy on monday. There were ill players, working players and people unable to travel due to other reasons so the three players competed in a double round robin. Grégory Spilmont took the honors, won the event with 10 points while Alain Flament had 4 and John Verfaillie had 3. There will hopefully be more players in the next club event on June 9.

Sunday, 11 May 2014

The very first WASPA tournament in the Netherlands took place this saturday in Hoogezand and was called the "Cobex/Top of Holland tournament". 16 players were taking part and all of them were from the host nation. Players were dropped in four group and then everyone played three more games to define all places. There were some close games in the quarter-finals already and some surprises, for instance the young Mikey Gerrets defeated Marco Leeman. In the semi-finales, Robbert Thoen defeated Mikey Gerrest while Maikel de haas beat Jacob Bijlstra. The final was close but finally Robbert Thoen beat Maikel de haas (1-0) to win the event. Well done to Robbert and congratulations to GSV de Hyacinth for a very good tournament with the presence of the local newspaper and plans to have other events in the future, possibly with foreign players.

Friday, 9 May 2014

The Templeuve United club had a good turnout of 15 players for their monthly tournament counting for the WASPA circuit. This time players were dropped in four groups and the only surprise was Eddy Beernaert winning his group. In the knock-out stage, Geoffrey Marain was in a great day to qualify for the final. Renald Deloose had to wait the shots to defeat Eddy Beernaert in the semi.

Shots in the semi between Renald Deloose and Eddy Beernaert

In the final, Marain was again the stronger player. Olivier Bodelle, the only french player in the entry list, won the consolation tournament.

On May 4th, 11 players took part in the third and final Scottish circuit event of the 2013-14 season. Of the three tournaments, each players' best two event results counted towards their final Scottish Championship points for the season and were also all WASPA events.

Before play began on Sunday, Steve Bennett and Gareth Christie (both Tayside Kickers 91) were tied at the top, both with a win and a second place previously. The remaining positions were all up for grabs so every game had significance.

While numbers were affected by a surprise birthday party the night before for Willie Flemming's 60th birthday (Glasgow TSA), those that made the trip all enjoyed a good days play with many close matches and a relaxed atmosphere.

Congratulations go to Steve Bennett for both winning the tournament and clinching the Scottish title after closely fought key wins. Elsewhere Scott Fleming (TK91) and Dave Gladman (GTSA) earned their highest finishes of the season with 3rd and 4th place respectively, to climb the table.

There were some great matches of note, such as new player Rob Conway stealing a 2-1 victory against training partner Andy Beskaby, with a wonderful deflection shot goal in the dying seconds. Andy, also a recent new player later had his own success coming back from 3-0 down to draw with Ben Staples (NETFA). Baver Bari (HCE) had a tough day, but scored some excellent goals and was unlucky not to win after going 2 down against Martin Phee (GTSA). Tom Burns was disappointed on the day, but retained 3rd place in the Championship and vowed to "split the Tayside two" next season. Tom will undoubtedly be a contender next season after running close in many games.

A note about the venue: This was the first event to be held at the studio space of FlickForKicks, and as such was a trial for hosting the Tayside IO there on 14-15th June. With ample space, good on-site facilities (farm shop and restaurant downstairs, plenty parking) and with a picturesque balcony view across the hills and River Tay estuary, the feedback was positive. With a few tweaks, the IO will go ahead there.

Finally, members of the STFA would like to thank Ben Staples for making the trip from south of the border, and also to wish Willie many happy returns and all the very best!

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

There was a good field of 9 players taking part in the WASPA tournament held in Hofstade-Zemst on monday. As always, the swiss system was used and there was no surprise as Jos Ceulemans (SC Anfield Hoppers Zürich) won all his games to win his 7th WASPA title. Frank Lannoy (SC Temploux) finished second with 9 points while Bart Van de Vliet had 7 and Rudi De Smet had 6.

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

We are sorry for the delay but we only publish now the results of the tournament held in Villa Potenza three weeks ago by the club of Macerata. It was a tournament with the old rules with 7 players and everyone playing each other twice. Alberto Gagliardi finished on top with 34 points while Stefano Gambella was second and Alessandro Mattioli was third. Well done Alberto!

Monday, 5 May 2014

On sunday 13 players attended the WASPA tournament held in Bergkamen with the special vist of two players from the Netherlands, Ron Corsten and Richard Stolwijk, who are new members of the Dortmund club. It was an great event with good atmosphere under the players. All matches was played without referees. After a group stage with 3 groups of three and one group of four the "Eisgekühlter Bommerlundercup" ended up in the knock-out system. In the semis, Thossa Büsing managed to beat Ron Corsten on shots while Richard Stolwijk beat Tom Horn (3-2). The final was not so close as Stolwijk beat Büsing (5-0) to become the first ducth player to win a WASPA tournament.

Five good reasons to organize WASPA tournaments

1. You only need 3 players to have the WASPA status and get ranking points;2. It is always better to play under the banner of an international association instead of playing only friendly games;3. The WASPA will help you to make new friends and meet more different players;4. You can slightly change some of the official rules when you organize a tournament (for instance you can play games of 20 minutes);5. Tournaments are easy to organize and you just need to announce the tournaments a few days in advance to get the WASPA status.

For other nations, candidates are welcome. Clubs interested to join the WASPA circuit are also free to contact us. Applications should be sent to Vincent Coppenolle

To buy Subbuteo

Mad About Games

Philosophy

The philosophy of the WASPA is to make unity between all amateur subbuteo players in the world, to organize tournaments and meetings between players at regional, national and international level.There will be a world ranking organized.Players of every country should have the same importance. There should not be difference between players in or outside Europe. Players from small nations should have the same rights and duties as those from bigger countries.